The Libyan leadership has sent a harsh letter to Israel, by means of a third party, saying it is suspending contacts with Tel Aviv, due to recent leaks to the media of meetings between representatives from both countries, according to A-Sharq Al-Awsat.

On Friday, the London-based paper reported that Tripoli accuses Tel Aviv of not demonstrating the "minimum amount of political ethics in international relations". The letter said the "contacts" would be suspended till further notice, since "secrecy" was one of the conditions set for their existence.

Furthermore, the paper quoted an Israeli foreign ministry official as saying the Libyan letter is a strong blow to Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's attempts to open a new page in relations between Israel and the Arab world.